2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

Without the interruption of the Safety Car, Mercedes were on course to win by over 80 seconds and could potentially have lapped all their rivals.

But as the saying goes you only need two cars to make a race, and the two W05s by themselves provided more than enough action for one race – several of their positions swaps don’t even appear on the chart below.

And of course there was more going on than just the fight between the Mercedes – the position changes came thick and fast behind them.

One of the striking changes in the complexion of the race after the Safety Car period was the sudden increase in performance from the two Red Bull drivers. Having languished in the lower half of the points early in the race they made great strides in the final dozen laps.

The opportunity to save fuel during the Safety Car period, and the fact both drivers had already got their medium tyre stints out of the way, allowed both to go on the attack. Daniel Ricciardo was probably one lap away from finishing on the podium when the chequered flag fell.

Bahrain Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Use the control below to show/hide different drivers:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2014drivercolours.csv

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Nico Rosberg

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1

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Lewis Hamilton

2

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Valtteri Bottas

3

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9

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Sergio Perez

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9

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Kimi Raikkonen

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Jenson Button

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12

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8

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Felipe Massa

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Kevin Magnussen

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Fernando Alonso

9

7

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14

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Sebastian Vettel

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12

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Nico Hulkenberg

11

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11

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Daniil Kvyat

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Daniel Ricciardo

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13

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Jean-Eric Vergne

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Esteban Gutierrez

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Romain Grosjean

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Pastor Maldonado

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Kamui Kobayashi

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Jules Bianchi

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Marcus Ericsson

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Max Chilton

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Adrian Sutil

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Bahrain Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap. Use the control below to show/hide different drivers:

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded):

9 comments on 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix lap charts

P1/P2 HAM/ROS clearly
P3/P4 PER/HUL probably
P5/P6 MAS/BOT – would most likely have been able to pass the Red Bulls, might even have been able to threaten Force India
P7/P8 RIC/VET – probably in this order as RIC had better top speed and seemed more comfortable all Sat/Sun
P9 BUT – if he didn’t retire. He might have been able to stay ahead of the Red Bulls but even before the SC, it looked like they would catch him
P10/P11 ALO/RAI probably

When’s the last time two cars swapped positions three or four times with passing moves? Normally the faster car gets ahead and it’s all over, something that has made F1 so boring in recent years. Would the ERS play a part, with one car having a little more, then next lap the other? Whatever it is, that Formula needs to be copied so all cars can fight like that! It was like watching a real car race!! lol.

Safety car gave a boost to Ricardo and Vettel who were far behind the pack. then they came breathing down on Perez and took Hulk in the mix who had a harder tire. You can clearly see Hulk defending Vettel and Ricardo for 5 ( Lap 46 to 52 giving breathing room for Perez.
I hope all the races are as fun and exiting as this one.

@keithcollantine did anyone else notice that the lap times are coming down quickly? Nico’s fastest lap of 1:37.020 was only .059 seconds behind Vettel’s 1:36.961in 2013?!!? The race was so exciting and great that everyone is overlooking that performance is already improving rapidly.

Granted, they’ve had lots of running time at Bahrain and it’s a better fit for the new engines and their power, but still another nail in the coffin of the doom sayers about how terrible the new 2014 Formula 1 is!!!